Lendlease, Aware Super Strike Los Angeles Development Deal

Lendlease has locked in its first urbanisation project in Los Angeles, securing a 1.4-hectare transit-oriented development site for US$92 million (A$118 million).

The land parcel was purchased in partnership with Australian superannuation fund Aware Super with plans for a 500,000 square foot mixed-use project spanning 260 residential units, office space and ground-floor retail.

The partnership's latest purchase completes a set of projects underway across five “gateway” cities in the United States, and follows on from the partnership's Brooklyn, New York deal announced in October last year, and the completion of projects in Boston and Chicago.

Lendlease says it will submit a development application to the City of Los Angeles this year, expecting to make a 2023 start on the project, which is located near entertainment and tech companies HBO, Apple, Amazon and Sony, with a two-year development timeline in place.

The two organisations each hold a half interest in the project, located at 3401 S. La Cienega Blvd, which sits near the Culver City submarket, and is located near the La Cienega-Jefferson light rail station.

Lendlease Americas chief executive Denis Hickey says the project will have an end value of US$600 million (A$773 million) when completed, as the partnership looks to continue to expand its activities across the US.

The pair's 1 Java Street, Brooklyn project, is a development with a billion-dollar end value. The acquisition involved a 90 per cent interest in a 1-hectare site that would see the development of a full city block into 800 residential rental apartments, with 30 per cent slated as affordable housing, under the affordable New York housing program.

Including the latest LA purchase, Lendlease and Aware Super says its joint projects have a total end value of more than $2.5 billion.

To date, the Australian development giant has 22 major urbanisation projects across 10 cities spanning Australia, the USA, Europe and Asia.